In the beginning, Texans general manager Rick Smith and safety Bernard Pollard had a series of tough-love conversations.

"If you're going to have another opportunity, there are things you need to address," Smith recalled telling him. "Whether or not you agree with them is immaterial."

Looking back on it now, Pollard's signing looks like a brilliant move by Smith because Pollard's fire helped transform the Texans in attitude and production. Suddenly, one of the NFL's worst defenses became one of its best during Pollard's 13 starts at safety last season.

The Texans saw something special in Pollard before he ever got into a game. When he was inactive for a contest against Jacksonville, he stood on the sidelines and called out the opposing offensive plays before the ball was snapped.

And then when he did play the following week, he stepped in at strong safety, a position where the Texans never had been — we'll be delicate here — great, and had a spectacular season. In 13 games, he tied Brian Cushing for the team lead with four interceptions and finished third with 102 tackles. He also had 1½ sacks and recovered three fumbles.

Yet what he really brought the Texans can't be measured by numbers. He brought an attitude.

"He brings an intense attitude. He's a kid who really takes pride in his performance, whether it's in the weight-room or classroom or on the field. He understands there's a need to be aggressive at his position, and he tries to instill it in the players around him."

Added Texans defensive backs coach David Gibbs: "He obviously loves contact. He loves controversy. He loves drama, good or bad, and it's not always good. To his credit, he's learning how to control it. "

Mixing it up

Gibbs and Bush had just seen Pollard start a free-for-all Monday morning by staying on top of rookie running back Ben Tate a little too long at the end of a play. Chris Myers came to Tate's defense and then Amobi Okoye and Eric Winston got involved, and pretty soon, there was a mountain of hot, sweaty, angry football players rolling around on the field.

This wasn't the first fight Pollard had been in this summer at practice and surely won't be the last. Afterward, he went to the sideline and continued to, well, direct comments toward no one in particular.

Isn't there a point where someone should tell Pollard to stop fighting his own teammates and save it for the Indianapolis Colts? I mentioned this theory to Bush worried that he might suggest I be the one to take that message to Pollard.

"You say that tongue-in-cheek," Bush said. "Hey, Bernard, slow down. But if you're a football coach and you believe in the game and what he brings to the game, we love it. We try to encourage it. We try to get all his energy going in the right direction. Hopefully, the other guys respond to it."

I wondered if Winston wasn't getting a little tired of Pollard slugging it out with teammates.

"I think he gets guys going," Winston said. "I think he has gotten the defense going. Now at the same time, if he steps over the line, it's up to us to put him back over there. That's what competition is all about. We're going to go inside now and have lunch together and start laughing and making jokes. If it was something that was carrying over into the locker room, if it was something that was aggravating guys, that would be one thing. That's not the case."

So long, Kansas City

OK, back to Smith's decision to sign Pollard in the first place. They're both Purdue guys, and so is Pollard's agent, Eugene Parker.

When Kansas City released Pollard at the start of last season, Parker telephoned Smith and asked him to consider Pollard.

Smith was intrigued. He began researching Pollard, both on the field and in the locker room. Then he began telephoning Pollard.

"He's an aggressive personality," Smith said, "and sometimes that can rub people the wrong way. Sometimes it doesn't mesh well with different leadership styles. He has to be aware of how he's coming off to people."

When Smith signed him, he said his advice was simple: keep your mouth shut, put your head down and work.

"I'm not asking you to be anything other than what you are," Smith recalled telling him. "But what I am asking you to do is be more aware of how you come off to people. And don't lose any of your aggressiveness. Let's make sure you come in here and fit in the way you can.

"He has come in and done everything we've asked. He has taken a situation where he was cut and out of football, and made the best of it."

It wasn't just Pollard. Cushing and Antonio Smith also brought a different mentality to a team that needed one. Now the Texans look at rookie defensive tackle Earl Mitchell and see some of the same qualities.

"We are not going to back down from anybody,“ Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "We will throw the first punch, and I think every guy understands that."

For his part, Pollard said he's grateful for the opportunity the Texans have given him, but he's not going to change the best part of his game. Not that anyone wants him to.

"I am blessed to have been given a second opportunity," he said. "I have had to re-evaluate myself. We all need some fire up under us, and I do not play this game to make friends. I have been on the streets before, and I do not want to be there again."